“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.”
Ezekiel 28:17a
The above verse is in reference to the city of Tyre. Tyre was a beautiful city that had enjoyed a golden-age of prosperity. It had formed alliances with the neighboring nations, prospered due to the timber trade, abundant fishing, and a notoriety for purple-dyed textiles, and enjoyed peace due to their easily protected island refuge.
Tyre was a beautiful city that colonized Phoenicia with its wisdom. Tyre was a great people, and they knew it. Their prosperity and beauty became their god. They idolized themselves and their ability to produce what others could not. Their talents and their prestige led to an arrogance that God could not leave unrebuked.
When we fall in love with our own greatness, it corrupts us and taints the blessing. Our blessings are a gift from God and He graciously showers them upon grateful souls, but when we forget the gratitude part, then we suppress the truth of the story. When we cut God out of the picture of our happy life, it is like damming up the river and wondering why the water stops.
Tyre’s beauty faded once they thought they were the source. It is a cautionary tale for every nation and every individual – never forget we are the recipients, not the creators of our blessings.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites